Jobless rate dips in St. Johns County

The unemployment rate in St. Johns County fell by 2/10s of a percent in December to 8.3 percent, mirroring the decline nationally and exceeding the rate of decline in Florida.

That means that 8,131 people in St. Johns County were out of work in December compared with 9,321 in December 2010, when the local jobless rate was 9.5 percent. In all, 90,216 people in St. Johns County had jobs last month.

Norm Gregory, vice president of Economic Development for the St. Johns County Chamber of Commerce, said the data reveal very positive news.

“It is important to consider the human factor when looking at unemployment,” said Gregory. “Nearly 2,000 more St. Johns County citizens are employed today versus (early) 2010. That’s great news.”

Nationally, the unemployment rate dropped to 8.5 percent, down from 8.7 percent in November 2011. In Florida, the rate dropped from 10 percent to 9.9 percent, the first time since April 2009 that the state’s jobless rate has been below 10 percent.

“We’re making good progress but we still have a lot of work to do,” Gov. Rick Scott said at a press conference Friday. “I look forward to working closely with the Legislature on identifying ways to ensure that every Floridian who wants a job can get a job.”

Florida Democrats were unimpressed, saying the state’s improvement lags behind the nation’s and that many of Scott’s decisions to reject federal high speed rail money and proposals, including shutting down 11 correctional facilities, will cost more jobs going forward.

“Gov. Rick Scott’s Tea Party agenda is moving our state in the wrong direction and forcing Florida’s economy to lag behind the rest of the nation,” state Democratic Chairman Rod Smith said in a statement.

In Duval County, the economic driver of Northeast Florida, the jobless rate fell to 9.5 percent, down from 9.9 percent in November and 11.4 percent in December 2010. In all, 42,496 people out of a workforce of 445,530 people were without work.

Flagler County, which has been plagued with high unemployment since the economic turndown, saw its unemployment rate dip below 14 percent to 13.9 percent. Despite the drop, Flagler County has the highest unemployment rate in the state. In November its jobless rate was 14.1 percent, and in December 2010 its jobless rate was 15.7 percent.

The only county in Northeast Florida to see its jobless rate go up was Putnam County, where the jobless rate was 11.6 percent in December, a slight increase from November when its jobless rate was 11.5 percent.

The state grew 113,900 jobs in December, with half of those coming in the leisure and hospitality industry and private education and health services. The government sector lost 7,900 jobs.

The Tampa Bay Times reported that the state and national figures only tell part of the jobs situation. They don’t account for tens of thousands discouraged workers in Florida, alone, who have at least temporarily stopped looking for a job and are no longer counted among the unemployed.